© Copyright 2000 by Jeff
Frederiksen
By
Jeff Frederiksen
The singular headlight pierced the early morning blackness, providing just enough illumination to allow the black-suited rider to navigate his way through the desert. Suicidal insects, attracted and mesmerized by the thin beam were slaughtered in hordes as the driver challenged speed limits in his race against the rising sun. Finally, far from the lights of the city, he turned left onto a gravel path, carefully negotiating some tricky twists and turns as he motored up to the overlook. Dismounting, he pulled his gloves and helmet off and placed them on the seat of his Harley. The engine creaked and ticked as it cooled off and mechanical parts realigned themselves in response to the temperature change. There were no other sounds emanating from the land and, finally, silence descended as he waited patiently for the dawn.
Facing east, he noted the first lightening of the sky, a change in the fabric and texture of the atmosphere. The thoughts he had suppressed on his way here started to slowly fill his consciousness, rising from within him as surely as the Sun this morning. As night’s curtain opened, the twin streams of light and thought seemed to merge until old Sol himself peered over the distant range of mountains and it was time to argue the question.
“If one must have a Deity, why not the Sun?” He thought to himself.
Eyes closed, he felt the cosmic rays warming him and appreciated a God he could actually feel.
“Who am I?” He pondered and began a Mantra:
“I am more than the sum of my words.”
“I am never second best.”
“I deserve all the best that life can deliver.”
“I will suffer loneliness only because I choose to.”
“I am more than a touch.”
“I am everything to someone.”
“Someone is everything to me.”
“I am ALIVE.”
And the Sun seemed benevolent on this spring morning; warming his soul as it drove the ache from his heart. Nearby, a bird twittered his own welcome to the day and the rider smiled. Everything had changed in an instant it seemed. He mounted the bike, pulled on his gloves and helmet and with a touch of his thumb on the starter, fired his machine and motored off to discover a new day.